January saw the departure

January saw the departure of two key first team members, Wilson Palacios and Emile Heskey, to Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/P Battery

Despite these massive changes, Wigan finished the season in 11th place with 45 points, their second-best finish ever in the Premier League. On 3 June, Bruce left Wigan for the second time to take over the vacant manager position at Sunderland.^[13] July saw the departure of another key first team member Antonio Valencia to Manchester United.^[14] Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/R Battery

Before the 2009–10 season got underway, Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole left the club and signed for Sunderland, rejoining Bruce in the process.

Wigan appointed Roberto Martínez, then manager of Swansea City, as manager prior to the 2009–10 Premier League.^[15] He previously played for Wigan from 1995–2001. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/W Battery

On 15 August 2009, Wigan won their opening game of the 2009–10 season, beating Aston Villa away, 2–0 The good form did not continue though, losing the next three games to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Everton before defeating West Ham United at the DW Stadium on 12 September 1–0 to claim three points. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery

The winning run was short-lived, however, with a trip to Arsenal on 19 September ending in a 4–0 defeat. On 26 September Wigan claimed their first three points against a "Big 4" team after beating Chelsea 3–1, with goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner.

On 22 November 2009, Tottenham Hotspur beat Wigan 9–1 at White Hart Lane, with 8 Tottenham goals coming in the second half. Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

This was the first time a Premier League club had conceded nine goals since Manchester United beat Ipswich 9–0 at Old Trafford in 1995.^[16] The defeat was a club record for Wigan in the 31-year existence as a league club.

A late surge that included a 1–0 win over Liverpool and a 3–2 win over Arsenal –Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

the latter of which saw Wigan recover from two goals down with ten minutes remaining to win in injury time – saw the team once more survive relegation. Most notably, having never defeated any of the traditional "Big Four" in the league until their win over Chelsea (and with only one win over any of them in cup competitions), Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

Wigan ended the season having defeated three of them at home. They finished the season with an 8–0 defeat at Chelsea, who clinched the title with the victory.

At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Wigan lost 4–0 to newly promoted Blackpool at the DW stadium, and a 6–0 thrashing at the DW stadium by Chelsea followed. Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

The next game Wigan beat Tottenham 1–0 at White Hart Lane. Wigan fell to the bottom of the league by the end of February, following a 4–0 defeat toManchester United.^[17] However, despite remaining in the bottom three for the majority of the season, Wigan managed to retain their Premier League status on the last day of the season, defeating Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a goal from Hugo Rodallega.^[18] Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

On 20 February 2012, the club announced a financial loss of £7.2 million.^[19] on 7 May Wigan simultaneously secured their Premier League status and relegated Blackburn Rovers with a 1–0 victory at Ewood Park.

Wigan lost their first game of the 2012-13 Premier League season at home to Chelsea Two goals to Nil. Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery

They bounced back against Southampton F.C and won by Two goals to Nil with Franco Di Santo and Arouna Koné scoring.

Wigan Athletic's stadium is the 25,138 capacity DW Stadium, part of the Robin Park complex in Wigan. It has been the club's home since the 1999–2000 season. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

Wigan Athletic also rent the stadium to rugby league team Wigan Warriors,^[20] The ground cost £30 million to construct. Previously, home games were played at Springfield Park, the former home of Wigan Borough.Springfield Park was demolished in June 1999; it is now the site of a housing development. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

The record attendance at the DW Stadium (then known as JJB Stadium) for Wigan Athletic is 25,133 for a match against Manchester United on 11 May 2008.

The JJB Stadium was the fourth attempt at re-development/re-location for Wigan Athletic, the first coming in 1986 when then-chairman Bill Kenyon revealed plans for a 15,000 all-seater development at Springfield Park including a hotel and shopping facilities. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

The club were to play at the nearby Woodhouse Stadium (formerly Wigan Municipal Stadium – now demolished) while the building work took place. In 1990, Kenyon submitted his second scheme which would cost £3m, hold 12–15,000 fans and involve moving the pitch nearer to the car park. Neither efforts got past the planning stage. Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

The next chairman, Stephen Gage, spent most of 1993 and 1994 trying to relocate the Latics to the then Robin Park Stadium (now demolished) until his plans were scuppered by Wigan Council when the local authority announced plans for their own ground involving Wigan Warriors. Mr Gage finally admitted defeat when he sold the Latics to Dave Whelan on 27 February 1995 for around £1m. Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

Plans for the JJB Stadium were first published in 1997. Contracts for the new stadium were signed in late 1997 and work began immediately. Originally the ground was to be built for both Wigan and Orrell R.U.F.C., as grants were only available for multi-use stadia at that time. Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

Wigan Warriors did not figure in the equation until Dave Whelan bought the rugby club some 12 months later after protracted negotiations with the directors of the rugby club. The modern all-seater stadium was officially opened on 4 August 1999. Its inauguration was marked with a friendly between Wigan and neighbours Manchester United, Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

who were then reigning European Champions, with Alex Ferguson officially opening the stadium. However, Wigan hosted Morecambe three days earlier on 1 August as a dress rehearsal for the official opening against Manchester United. 4,020 supporters braved a fierce electrical storm and torrential rain but the game ended in a goalless draw. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery

The first competitive football match took place on 7 August 1999, with Wigan Athletic facing Scunthorpe United in a Division 2 match. Simon Haworth scored twice, including the first competitive goal at the new stadium, as Athletic won 3–0.

On 7 March 2005 Greater Manchester police announced that they would stop policing Wigan Athletic matches at the stadium from 2 April. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

This move later, Wigan, facing the prospect of playing their home games in the Premier League in an empty stadium, paid the money they owed to the police. The club appealed against the payments in court and won, with the claims expected to earn the club around £37,000.^[21]

On 25 March 2009 it was announced that Wigan would change the name of their stadium to The DW Stadium, after chairman Dave Whelan's commercial venture, DW Sports Fitness.

Wigan's longest and recently forgotten rivalry was with Lancashire based club Chorley F.C., a game in which they would play half a dozen times a season and became main rivals before Wigan took off into the football league in 1978. Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

The two haven't played since then. Since Wigan's admission to the Football League in 1978, the club has built up several rivalries, mainly with Bolton Wanderers, with whom they contest the South Lancashire Derby. They also have lesser rivalries with Preston North End, Oldham Athletic, West Ham United F.C. and Blackburn Rovers F.C.. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

There is also a long standing issue with Wigan Rugby League which predates the club. This has heightened since Latics admission to the Football League and increasingly so after the mid 1980's when then Wigan RL director Maurice Lindsay made derogatory comments about the club. Latics owner, Dave Whelan, Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

made attempts to unite the fans when the JJB Stadium (now DW Stadium) opened in 1999, but in retrospect polarised the fans even further.

The DW Stadium is a sports stadium in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, that is home to Wigan Athleticfootball club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

Built and opened in 1999,^[1] it is named after its main sponsor, DW Sports Fitness,^[5] and managed by the independent Wigan Football Company Limited.^[6]

Its current capacity is 25,138—seated in four single-tier stands—and its record attendance was in 2008 when 25,133 people watched Wigan Athletic play Manchester United in the title-deciding match of the 2007–08 Premier League season. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery

The stadium was built by Alfred McAlpine and completed in August 1999.^[9] Wigan Warriors moved to the stadium a month after it opened, once they had played their final home game of the 1999 regular season at Central Park. After their former ground was sold, the possibility of ground sharing with Bolton Wanderers F.C. Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

at the modern Reebok Stadium was presented, however, the new stadium in Wigan was chosen instead.^[10] Their first game at the stadium was a play-off match against Castleford Tigers, which they lost, on 19 September.^[11] Wigan did not lose a competitive match at the stadium in 2001.Wigan Athletic had spent the previous 67 years playing at Springfield Park, Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

and their first match at the stadium was a friendly against Morecambe, just before the stadium's official opening.^[13]

The stadium's inauguration was marked with a friendly between Wigan Athletic and neighbours Manchester United, who were then reigning European Champions, Premier League title and FA Cup holders, with United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson officially opening the stadium. Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

The first competitive football match there took place on 7 August 1999, with Wigan Athletic facingScunthorpe United in a Division Two match. Simon Haworth scored twice, including the first competitive goal at the new stadium, as Athletic triumphed 3–0.^[14]

The first away team to win a competitive football match at the stadium was Wigan Athletic. Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery

A first round FA Cup tie against non-league Cambridge City was played there due to City's ground being deemed unsuitable to host the tie. Wigan played in their changed strip and used the away dressing room since it was technically a 'home' game for Cambridge City. A Stuart Barlow brace secured the win for Wigan. Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery

Wigan subsequently lost at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup on 11th December 1999. Oldham Athletic became the first team to beat Wigan in a league fixture at the JJB on 7th January 2000. The game was shown live on sky sports and finished 1-0 thanks to an 86th minute header from Lee Duxbury. Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery

Whilst the Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic flourished in the new stadium (Wigan Athletic in particular would achieve significant success, rising up the English football pyramid to the Premier League by 2005), the fortunes of Orrell R.U.F.C. could not have been more different. Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery

Dave Whelan and Maurice Lindsaydecided to invest heavily in the club, with the aim of having the club play in rugby union's Guinness Premiership at the then-JJB Stadium. After failing to win 2004's National Division Two, Whelan pulled a large amount of investment from the club, to a more modest GB£30,000 a year. Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery

This was the beginning of Orrell's demise, as players left during the summer of that year and the club were consequently relegated the season after. Ownership eventually passed from Lindsay back to the club's members, but by this point, Orrell had sold their former Edge Hall Road ground to Dave Whelan's company, Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery

Whelco Holdings, and therefore had no assets apart from their rebuilt clubhouse following a fire in 2002. Orrell never settled at the JJB Stadium, and were eventually de-professionalised at the end of the 2006–07 season. On 7 March 2005 Greater Manchester police announced that they would stop policing Wigan Athletic matches at the stadium from 2 April. Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery

This move would almost certainly have resulted in the stadium's safety certificate being revoked, effectively forcing the team to play behind closed doors. The move was part of an ongoing dispute between the police force and Dave Whelan surrounding GB£300,000 in unpaid policing costs. Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery

The police's decision would not have affected Wigan Warriors, whose games are stewarded instead of policed. The situation was temporarily resolved on 8 March with both sides reaching an agreement that would allow Athletic to play at the ground until the end of the season. Four months later, Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery

Wigan Athletic, facing the prospect of playing their home games in the Premier League in an empty stadium, grudgingly paid the money they owed to the police. The club successfully appealed against the payments in court and won damages from the police.^[17]

On 10 November 2007 JJB Stadium was the venue for the last ever game of the Great Britain national rugby league team, a 28 - 22 victory over New Zealand. Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery

On 7 September 2008, Wigan Warriors revealed plans to take their Super League Play-Off against Bradford Bulls to a neutral venue.^[18] The controversial relocation was forced due to a fixture clash, with a match between football clubs Wigan Athletic and Sunderland to take place less than 24 hours after the Super League match. Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery

Whelan, who controlled Wigan Athletic, refused permission for the Warriors to stage their elimination at the stadium, citing concerns over the playing surface.^[21] The game was relocated to Widnes Vikings home ground, the Stobart Stadium.^[20] In the same season, JJB Sports announced they would not continue to sponsor the Wigan Warriors, leaving them without a main shirt sponsor. Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

The stadium's average attendance has increased significantly since its opening in 1999. The Wigan Warriors' average attendance has increased by 32.5% from its first full season at the stadium in 2000, and Wigan Athletic's average attendance has increased by 181.2% from the 2000–01 season. The highest recorded attendance for a rugby league match is shared between three fixtures; Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery

the Wigan Warriors' fixture against St Helens RLFC on 25 March 2005; Game 4 of the 2005 Tri-Nations series between Great Britain and Australia on 6 November; and Game 5 of the 2004 Tri-Nations series between Great Britain and Australia on 13 November at 25,004 each.Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery

The highest recorded football attendance at the stadium was Wigan Athletic's home fixture against Manchester United on 11 May 2008—the final day of the 2007–08 Premier League season—with 25,133 fans attending.^[7] This is the stadium's highest recorded overall attendance to date, and was the match where Manchester United were crowned Premier League champions for that season. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery

In March 2009, Dave Whelan acquired a chain of fitness clubs from JJB Sports. In the process, Whelan used the business to set up a new venture, DWSportsfitness and announced that the stadium name would change to the DW Stadium in August.^[27] Whelan also announced that at the same time the stadium was renamed, its ownership would pass from himself to Wigan Athletic. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery